Attendance and Punctuality

"One of the most important things you can do for your child is to make sure they attend school regularly.

The more school work they miss the harder it will be to catch up. Also the longer they are away the harder it may be for them to fit back into school life and form friendships.

The law states that all children must receive a full time education between the ages of 5 and 16.

Aim for 100% school attendance for a better future." Sheffield City Council website

At Shooters Grove Primary School

All children need to be at school promptly for morning register at 8.50am

The school opens at 8.40am for children to come in, organise their coats and lunch and complete a morning task set by their teacher each day.

In the afternoon session, registers are taken at 1pm.

School finishes at 3.10pm for the Early years / Infants and 3.15pm for the Juniors.

Getting to School on time matters...• Children arriving to school after 9am are recorded as being late (L)• Children arriving to school after 9.15am will be recorded as being unauthorised late (U) This is the same as an unauthorised absence mark.

Any children arriving late must report to the school office.

OUR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET THIS YEAR IS 96.5%

Number of minutes late every school day and days missed each year as a result:

5 mins every day = 3.5 days10 mins every day = 7.2 days20 mins every day = 14.4 days

If your child needs to be absent from school:

• Only keep your child away from school if it is really necessary- we will contact you if they are unwell and need to go home.

• On the first day of absence, you are required to either telephone the school office or complete the Absence form on the 'Reporting Absence' page of the website, before the morning registers have been completed (8.55am)• Keep school informed each day if more than one day’s absence is necessary.• Speak to us if your child will be off for a prolonged period of time so we can offer support.

Medical Appointments...Where possible please avoid medical appointments in school time. If this is unavoidable please remember that:• Medical appointment cards will need to be shown at the school office for an authorised medical appointment to be recorded on the register.• If same day emergency medical appointments occur, ask your GP surgery for a card/slip stating that your child attended. This will need to be returned to school at the first opportunity.• If your child is too ill to return to school following the appointment, please telephone us.

Taking your child out of school, during term time

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 Amendments have been made to the 2006 Regulations and make clear that head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.Parents should complete a form and submit to the school at least 20 days in advance. Headteachers have the discretion to grant leave, but they should only do so in exceptional circumstances. If a headteacher grants a leave request, it will be for them to determine the length of time that the child can be away from school. This leave is unlikely, however, to be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.Parents can be fined for taking their child on holiday during term time without consent from the school.To find out more about your responsibility as a parent/carer, click the link to Sheffield City Councils Attendance Policy and further information about attendance matters.

Term dates for 2017/2018 can be found here. Please note that days coded in blue are the 5 additional days scheduled for Teacher Professional Development.